A Touch of True Love
by Lindstrom
Summary: (Friendship, not romance). Two months after her coronation, Elsa is still unnerved by the new burdens of everyday life. Anna is pushing too hard, too fast to fix everything. Kristoff has his own struggles as he tries to find his footing in new relationships. When tensions explode, Elsa has to apply Anna's further insights on true love to help three broken people form a family.
1. Chapter 1 - Turning Back

_Author Note: Hi! Thanks for reading! "Frozen" and all its characters and settings belong to Disney. These first two chapters are scenes from the movie. I wrote them down to bring out the emotional themes I'm developing in the sequel stories, and to describe the meaning of what happened on the fjord, not just the events. My original story picks up in chapter 3._

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**Prologue Chapter 1 – Turning Back**

Kristoff hung on to Anna, Sven's body rolling in a gallop beneath them. Olaf had fallen off when they reached the snowline again, and was skidding and sliding alongside. That crazy snowman could have fun in any situation.

Anna's shivering reached the convulsive stage. "Hang in there," he pleaded with her, then urged Sven to go faster. Her face was so pale even her freckles had faded. He pulled off his hat and settled it on her white hair.

With nothing to do but ride and worry, Kristoff's brain had time to point out that Grand Pabbie hadn't needed to ask what happened to Anna. Pieces of a dim memory pushed up into his consciousness. The only other time he'd seen this happen, Grand Pabbie had asked questions. There were two little girls that time, the unconscious one and the blonde one. He hadn't noticed very much once Bulda started talking to him, but he remembered that much.

He'd caught barely a glimpse of Elsa in the ice palace, but enough to see that she was even blonder than he was. Not many people retained that hair color past early childhood.

This wasn't Anna's first trip to the rock trolls, nor the first time Grand Pabbie had seen the effects of Elsa's magic on Anna. That crazy sister had tried to kill her before, when they were just kids. How foolish did Anna have to be to go after her again? Not only did she get engaged to a man she just met, but she kept chasing a sister who was nothing but trouble and danger. He was caught in the turmoil of wanting to protect her and being angry at her for getting herself hurt, and destroying his livelihood in the process.

Now he was taking her to Hans. Based on what he'd already seen of Anna's judgment, that was going to be a disaster too. But what else could he do?

They reached the borders of the mainland village. Olaf whooped and skidded off. "I'll meet you guys at the castle!"

"Stay out of sight, Olaf!" Kristoff shouted at him.

"I will!" Olaf shouted back.

The next thing Kristoff heard was Olaf greeting someone to a chorus of shrieks.

Sven galloped across the causeway, his hooves loud on the brick paving stones. The castle gates opened as he reached them. Kristoff dismounted, Anna in his arms.

"Will you be all right?" she asked weakly.

"Don't worry about me," Kristoff said, smiling at her concern. She was the one who couldn't take care of herself.

"Princess Anna!" Several people wearing the green castle livery were reaching out for her as she struggled to her feet.

"Get her warm," Kristoff ordered. "And find Prince Hans! Make sure she's safe."

"We will," they said. Then they led Anna away. She looked back at him once before they shut the immense door in his face.

Kristoff leaned against Sven. He was hungry. He had no sled, no food, no money, and even his belt knife was gone. He had nothing left but Sven. With heavy steps, he turned away for the long hike back to the trolls. Maybe they had a mushroom he could eat. Sven stayed at the door, lowing at it sadly as Kristoff walked away.

**~###~**

Kristoff hiked up the mountainside, Sven trudging after him. The occasional snowflake fell. Sven turned to look back towards the castle where Anna was, bellowing sadly. He chuffed at Kristoff, bleating anxiously.

"What is it buddy?" Kristoff asked.

Sven swung his antlers, herding Kristoff backwards.

"Hey, watch it," Kristoff warned him. "What's wrong with you?"

Sven growled and snapped at him.

"I don't understand you when you talk like that," Kristoff said, walking away.

Sven scooped him up onto his antlers and started walking back towards Anna.

"Ow! Stop it! Put me down!"

Sven obliged, throwing Kristoff into the snow. He chuffed angrily at him again while Kristoff struggled to his feet.

"No, Sven!" Kristoff scolded him. "We're not going back."

Sven moaned a question.

"She's with her true love," Kristoff said.

Sven just gave him that look.

Kristoff looked back at him hopelessly. The wind gusted with unexpected strength through his hair and Kristoff turned to look. Down in the fjord, the castle's shape was obscured as a storm blew up and around it, writhing and twisting in a cold tornado. It was the most unnatural thing he'd seen, and he'd seen a lot these past two days. There was only one source for something that ominous – Elsa was down there, with Anna, who would try to find her again.

"Anna!" Kristoff exclaimed, and took off running down the mountain.

Sven caught up with him and Kristoff climbed onto his back. Kristoff urged him faster, but Sven was already galloping as fast as he could go down the mountainside and onto the fjord. The storm rose like a wall in front of them. Kristoff only urged Sven to go faster, sure that Anna was at the very heart of her sister's storm.

They dodged around ships and boats, all the detritus that had frozen in the fjord. Kristoff trusted his life to Sven's sure-footed gallop. The wind was breaking things apart, blowing things into their course. Then the wind caught the sail of a frozen ship. Before it snapped off the mainmast, it drove the ship over and the ice beneath it began to crack.

Kristoff and Sven were caught right beneath the falling ship, with nowhere to go but straight ahead. "Go!" Kristoff yelled. Sven put forth a mighty effort to dodge the debris falling off the collapsing ship and even the spar missed them, crashing into the ice and shattering the surface they ran on. Ice broke all around them. As Sven plunged into the icy water, he bucked his friend to safety.

Kristoff scrambled on the ice, turning, screaming for Sven who was in the water littered with ice blocks. At last he surfaced and clambered onto an ice floe. He lowed at Kristoff.

"Good boy," Kristoff said, relieved. If he had to choose between rescuing Anna and rescuing Sven, he wasn't sure which one he would have chosen.

He turned and ran. Anna's voice floated to him in the wind. It could have come from any direction.

"Anna!" he shouted back, and kept running.


	2. Chapter 2 - Anna's Magic

**Prologue Chapter 2 – Anna's Magic**

Elsa ran through the storm on the fjord, the gossamer train on her dress tangling around her. She didn't care what happened to Arendelle any longer. She just wanted to get as far away as she could. If this storm kept them from finding her, then she would let it rage. It was beyond her control anyway. She stopped, looking through the wind to get her bearings. She wanted to get away from Arendelle, not go in circles on the fjord. She sensed solid land and headed that direction.

The storm turned her around again. There was someone else on the fjord.

"Elsa! You can't run from this!" It was Prince Hans, hands up against the wind. His hair blew wildly, his long cloak flapping against his knees. At least Anna would be safe with him. She wouldn't need Elsa's permission to marry him after today.

Elsa turned back to him. "Just take care of my sister."

"Your sister? She returned from the mountain weak and cold. She said that you froze her heart," Hans said.

Elsa knew it was true. It was too terrible to be anything but another horrible truth.

"I tried to save her, but it was too late," Hans went on. "Her skin was ice. Her hair turned white. Your sister is dead. Because of you."

Because of her. She'd always known she would destroy Anna someday. She'd hoped to get away and leave Anna in safety, but she'd failed. As Elsa internalized the extent of her failure, all fear shut down. It had always been connected to hope, she realized as it died. She could only fear failure as long as there was any hope for success. Anna was dead; and with it Elsa's fear. Elsa collapsed onto the ice.

The storm abruptly ended. The storm clouds rolled back, leaving crystal clear air. Not even the snowflakes moved. Everything, everywhere, was perfectly frozen. Elsa achieved the goal she'd sought her whole life. She could no longer feel anything at all.

~###~

I'm doing it again, Anna realized as she staggered in the blowing snow, her white braids whipping in the wind. I thought if I needed Elsa enough, she would love me, and she didn't. I thought if I needed Hans enough, he would love me, and he didn't. And now I'm hoping if I need Kristoff enough, that he'll love me, but it won't be enough. No one will ever be enough for me. And yet I don't know what else I can do.

A frozen heart wasn't too different from the lifetime of loneliness she'd already endured. It was a double dose of loneliness, that was all. This was her fate. Anna looked at her fingers, which no longer moved. They were ice blue, with flowery frost creeping up her wrists and palms.

The wind stopped. The air cleared. Ahead of her she saw Kristoff running towards her.

"Kristoff," she whispered, more hopelessness than hope in her voice.

Behind her, Anna heard a metallic rasp. She turned towards the sound and saw Prince Hans with a drawn sword standing over a figure in glittering blue, crumpled on the ice.

"Elsa?"

Anna looked once more at Kristoff, but her decision was already made. Kristoff wasn't going to love her enough to save her either. But deep past Anna's hopes and needs she realized that she loved Elsa that much. Strength surged through her. Her weak and hopeless steps became strong and she ran as fast as she'd ever run in her life to save Elsa.

"No!" she cried, lifting her hand as Hans brought his sword down toward Elsa's neck. In that instant the ice finished its work. Hans' sword connected with Anna's frozen hand and shattered.

~###~

The sound of frozen metal shattering rang across the icy fjord. The blast of ice and magic threw Prince Hans backward and drew Queen Elsa out of her apathy.

Elsa leaped to her feet when she saw the frozen figure of her sister. Prince Hans had spoken the truth; she'd frozen Anna's heart and destroyed her. And yet Anna's last act was to try to reach Elsa again. She hung around Anna's neck, wailing in anguish. Why wouldn't she stay away? She'd tried so hard to leave Anna behind to protect her, and Anna kept coming after her until it finally cost her the ultimate price. If only Anna had stayed away!

The magic of Anna's act of true love began to wind around Elsa's own heart, gentle tendrils of truth showing her Anna's perspective. The icy disasters didn't happen when Anna sought Elsa; they happened when Elsa pushed Anna away. The ice exploded during the coronation ball when she was fleeing from Anna's honest pain. The ice blasted through Anna's heart in the palace when Elsa was throwing Anna's offer to help back in her face. The snow beast threw Anna out of the palace because, even wounded as she was, Anna still wanted to be near Elsa and help her. Even this final tragedy was because Anna wanted to help her while Elsa focused on nothing but her own fears and failings.

Anna's presence wasn't the trigger for disaster; it was Elsa's rejection. Anna loved her. Love offered and, finally, love accepted. That truth broke through part of the ice deep inside Elsa's own heart and she began to cry – hot, scalding tears on her cheeks for the first time since earliest childhood. Magic deeper than ice began to take hold, dripping from Elsa's cheeks onto Anna's heart. She hung onto Anna harder and noticed that Anna was softer, her cloak swinging down, her arm falling to her side. Elsa shuddered, stepped back, and put a hand to her face. Tears! Real tears! Elsa and Anna became human again at the same time.

"Anna!" Elsa cried out. "Anna!" And she fell on her neck, holding her tight, crying out a lifetime worth of tears. Anna wrapped her in her arms and hugged her back.

"You sacrificed yourself for me?" Elsa asked.

"I love you," Anna replied.

Olaf picked up his head with excitement. "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart," he said with wonder in his voice.

Elsa stared at him. It rang true. Anna was capable of true love, and so she couldn't have a frozen heart.

She looked around at the frozen harbor, the snow-covered mountain, the castle island in its blanket of snow. All this was from her fear, her own frozen heart.

And yet now she could cry.

"Love will thaw," Elsa considered. "Love. Of course! Love!"

A power surged through Elsa, drawn from Anna's heart. It was the opposite of the withdrawal and turning away she felt when she created ice and snow. This power was connecting her, drawing her out of her isolation, outward and away from her fear.

Elsa raised her arms. Blue sparkles rushed out from her fingertips and began to dance through the air. Her fingers tingled as this new connection pulled power out of them. The sparkles rushed about in a zephyr. The ice began to fracture and crumble. The sparkles multiplied on their own, rushing and flowing all over Arendelle, carrying away ice and snow. The harbor began to dissolve as the snowflakes drew upward.

With a few steps, the small group on the ice found a ship to stand on as the ice abruptly became water again. The mountainside turned green; the snow disappeared from the castle island. It all coalesced in the startlingly blue sky. Elsa drew it together into an enormous snowflake and then let it burst apart into a shower of icy sprinkles.

"I knew you could do it," Anna said, hugging her again.

Elsa stayed in the hug, accepting Anna's love and support. This is what a sister felt like.

"This is the happiest day of my life," Olaf proclaimed as he began to melt in the heat. "And quite possibly my last."

"Hold on there, little guy," Elsa said, and swirled up a snow cloud for him.

"My own personal flurry!" he said, ecstatic.

Elsa looked around. The man who had been in her ice palace with Anna was standing behind them with a reindeer. Then a groan and a noise drew their attention.

Prince Hans was climbing unsteadily to his feet. The man with the reindeer started over, anger in every line of his face, but Anna waved him off. She strode over to Prince Hans as he blinked uncertainly.

"Anna? But she froze your heart."

"The only frozen heart around here is yours," Anna answered. She punched him in the face and knocked him overboard.

Then Anna was there again, hugging her, shielding her from the anger everyone must feel towards her for what she'd done to her sister, to Arendelle. She began to weep. Anna should have thrown her overboard too, and instead she was reclaiming her sister with forgiveness. Elsa clung to Anna, and made room in her heart to accept this second gift of true love.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Riding Lesson

_Author Note: This story now picks up two months after Elsa's coronation._

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**Chapter 3 – The Riding Lesson**

"But it's so easy! I bet you'll pick it up fast enough we can all go horseback to meet Kristoff at the marketplace and go on our picnic!" Anna encouraged her.

Elsa watched the groom bring a saddled horse out of the castle stable and hand the reins to Anna. She'd never ridden a horse. She would much rather spend today meeting with her councilors, as she'd been doing every day in the two months since her coronation. But no one had anything left to say and so Elsa was left with a free day. Anna had instantly filled it up.

"Look, you put your foot in the stirrup like this. Stand up, swing your leg over, find the stirrup on the other side, and you're all set!" Anna mounted the horse like she'd been riding her entire life, which was true. She smiled encouragement at Elsa and dismounted. "Now you try it!"

Elsa just looked at the horse, her gloved hands tightly clenched and folded against her long-sleeved, high-necked gown. Anna's throat and arms were bare in her lightweight green cotton summer dress. "Are all horses that big?"

"Oh, stop being so silly and get on," Anna urged.

Her arms wouldn't unfold. She stood there, wondering when Anna would notice that the temperature in the corral was dropping. She couldn't sit on that horse; it was too much contact with another living thing. Elsa had never so much as petted a dog because she might freeze it. Even if she did mount the horse, she knew she would fall off and break her leg. People would have to carry her to her room and take care of her. They would have to touch her and she would freeze them. She'd be helpless; they wouldn't leave her alone. Anna would be there constantly, always watching her and telling her how to feel.

It was snowing in the corral. Elsa watched ice slowly start to spread out from her feet, frosting over the bits of hay that littered the ground. She was miserable because she was disappointing Anna, but she simply could not get on that horse. The groom was backing away as the ice crept towards him. Anna slipped on it and finally noticed what was happening.

"Elsa!" she said sharply.

Elsa shook her head, curling in on herself and turning away. "I might hurt it, Anna."

"It's a mare. You call her 'she.' Her name is Gypsy. Come here," Anna said.

She reached for Elsa's folded arms and pulled her over. "Give me your hands," she ordered. She pulled Elsa's hands out of their fold and slapped them directly onto the horse's neck as Elsa gasped.

"Think of the horse," she ordered her sister. "Think of the horse and quit thinking of ice. Tell me what you feel."

Shocked, Elsa stared at her gloved hands that were flat on the horse's neck. "It's warm."

"She's warm," Anna corrected her. "What else?"

"Her blood. I can feel the rhythm of her blood," Elsa offered.

"Good. Keep going." Anna had her hands on Elsa's wrists, keeping them on the horse.

"She's a creature, with a heart and blood, and a name."

Anna was nodding. The ice was receding and drawing back. Then the strangest thing happened. Elsa's cocoon of fear cracked open and she felt like she was falling into the horse; Gypsy was drawing her out of herself like Anna had drawn her out of herself on the frozen fjord. Her perspective shifted away from herself and she sensed Gypsy as an individual living being. "She loves to run," Elsa said, overwhelmed by Gypsy's love of running. "She lives to run. When the groom brushes her, it relaxes tired muscles so she can run again. Her whole life is about running and she loves it. She likes carrying a rider. She's proud when someone rides her, like she's been chosen for a great honor."

Anna let her hands go, but Elsa didn't move them. She was still stunned at the contentment she'd sensed in Gypsy. It must be wonderful to know exactly why you were born and to have a life that fulfilled that purpose. There was also the wonder of comprehending Gypsy as a separate being. She'd sensed that wonder before on the frozen fjord when she felt Anna's separate perspective. Elsa had spent her lifetime frozen into herself and her fear of making a mistake that would reveal who she really was. The true love she'd experienced on the fjord was drawing her outwards and connecting her with the world outside of herself. She just hadn't expected to ever have that kind of experience with a horse. Elsa ran her hands down Gypsy's neck, patting and rubbing her.

"Do you want to feed her an apple?" Anna asked.

Elsa took the apple Anna handed her and held it out for Gypsy. Gypsy lipped it off her palm and crunched. The smell of crushed apple mingled with the smell of warm hay.

The ice was gone; the snow was gone; the day was hot again.

"That was amazing," Elsa whispered. "Did you know how she feels about carrying a rider?"

"What exactly happened, Elsa?" Anna asked, looking at her quizzically.

"I loved her," Elsa said. "I loved her so I could feel how she feels about things. Isn't that how you do it?"

Anna studied Elsa. "No. I just wanted you to stop thinking about ice and being afraid."

Elsa went back to patting and scratching Gypsy. "It was like on the fjord with you. For just a few moments I could sense your perspective, your love for me. It was like falling into your heart. It just happened again with Gypsy."

"Really."

"That's not normal?" Elsa's voice faltered.

"I think it's wonderful. But no, I've never fallen into someone else's heart," Anna said.

"It was more like a shift of perspective," Elsa explained.

Anna dropped it. "Do you want to try mounting her yet?"

Gypsy would love it, so Elsa said yes. It took her four tries to stand in the stirrup with the right balance to get her other leg over Gypsy's back. She was ridiculously proud of herself when she finally settled into Gypsy's saddle and picked up the reins.

"We're going to walk slowly around the corral now. Hand the reins to me. You just hold on to the pommel and get used to the motion," Anna said.

Anna and Gypsy set off. Elsa rolled with the motion, and eventually figured out how to put enough weight on her feet in the stirrups to make the ride more comfortable. She patted Gypsy's neck again and told her she was a beautiful horse.

When Anna stopped after only a few minutes, Elsa asked, "That's it?"

"Do you want to ride her over the causeway? We can take horses to the picnic. We need to leave now. I told Kristoff we'd meet him about midday."

Elsa was already dismounting. "Could I have a few more riding lessons before I go out in public? I'd hate for the people of Arendelle to watch their queen fall off a horse."

"That's fine," Anna said.

Elsa took the reins from Anna and led Gypsy back to the stable. She handed the reins over to the groom. "Does her color have a special name, or is she just a brown horse?"

"She's a light bay, your Majesty, with black socks."

"She's beautiful, isn't she? Thanks Gypsy. I'll come back again." Elsa patted her neck and smiled when Gypsy whinnied at her.

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_New chapter will be published every other day or so. Reviews and comments are appreciated! Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4 - At the Marketplace

**Chapter 4 – At the Marketplace**

Anna retrieved the picnic basket from the kitchen while Elsa tracked down Olaf. They met at the causeway.

"I love the marketplace!" Olaf said, waddling ahead of them.

"Today is going to be perfect!" Anna agreed. It would have been even more perfect if Elsa had agreed to ride horses, but she could live with the delay. At least Elsa had tried. The ice had stopped too, without freezing the corral. Anna had always known Elsa could control the ice if she'd just quit being so afraid all the time.

"How long have the ice harvesters been back?" Elsa asked her.

"I saw Kristoff yesterday when he delivered a load of ice to the castle. I told him he had to stay and go on our picnic today. The other ice harvesters have already left again. Kristoff said the lake wasn't frozen as deep as they'd hoped and they're going up the north peaks this time," Anna said. She'd had to insist Kristoff stay behind. He would have been gone again if she'd let him. But he'd been gone for weeks already. She'd hardly seen him since the ice skating party and she was dying to spend some time with him. Besides, he and Elsa needed a chance to realize they were really good friends in spite of everything that had happened.

"Anna, I need to tell you that I won't interfere with your choice. I'm sorry about last time," Elsa said. She had her arms folded again.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I told you that you couldn't marry a man you'd just met. I was wrong to take over your life like that."

"Actually, you were right," Anna said. "Prince Hans was horrible."

"It still wasn't my decision," Elsa said.

"Kristoff kissed me when I gave him the new sled," Anna blurted out.

"Oh?"

"It wasn't a true love's kiss though. It was more of a thanks-for-the-sled kiss," Anna admitted. "And I don't need to marry the second man I've ever talked to. I mean, what if there are three men in the world who are willing to talk to me? Or four?" Anna was laughing and brushing it off. She never had been able to admit to deep pain. Elsa was the one who had suffered. She was just the happy, carefree sister whom nobody had to worry about. "I think we should adopt Kristoff as a brother, don't you? I already told him that I consider him a brother and that you will too as soon as you get to know him."

"It would be nice to have a brother and friend, but I think he's still angry with me for hurting you," Elsa said.

"Oh, quit worrying about that. I told him everything is fine now."

Elsa didn't look like she believed her, but she'd see soon enough. Everything would be fine. It had to be.

The causeway ended at the marketplace. At the far side, a pile of stone salvaged from the north wing of the castle lay, awaiting the stone masons who were going to build a decorative archway leading into the Village Green, where the clock tower presided over two story buildings with a shop or office on the main level, and living quarters above. The arch would be very fine once it was finished, but for now, it was only a pile of stone. The late summer air hung heavily over the day. The mountainside was still deep green, forming a beautiful backdrop for Arendelle Village.

At the marketplace, Olaf ran off to get some raspberries, giving the potato seller a wide berth. Anna and Elsa went the other way to the ice shed. Kristoff was napping in the straw while Sven placidly chewed his cud.

"Wake up, lazybones!" Anna said cheerfully, kicking his foot lightly.

Elsa stepped into the shed and looked around at the plank walls, rough shelves, and tools.

Kristoff sat up. "I'm not lazy. I just got told I couldn't go back to work today."

"Oh, stop that. You can get back up the mountain soon enough. But when else are we going to be able to go on a picnic?" Anna replied with a laugh and a dismissive wave.

He put a piece of straw in his mouth and just looked at her.

"You know Elsa, right?" Anna chirped at him.

"I know Elsa," he agreed with a shrug. "Not really, but it's kind of hard to avoid knowing who she is."

Elsa gave a tiny nod, arms folded and eyes still darting around the unfamiliar surroundings.

Anna gave both of them a frustrated look and decided to let that pass. At least Elsa hadn't told him to call her 'Your Majesty,' and Kristoff hadn't splattered her when he spit-polished his sled and then told her she had poor judgment. Really, Kristoff was a bit of an oaf until you got to know him. But that's what today was for! They'd be best friends by the end of the picnic.

"Ice? Is there any ice?" A skinny man with an empty bucket and ragged, dusty clothes approached the shed.

Kristoff spit out the straw. "Sorry, Felix. Everything we could haul down the mountain went into ice cellars. The lake wasn't frozen as deeply as we'd hoped. Replacing every bit of ice in Arendelle is going to take us a couple of trips. Arendelle is experiencing an ice shortage, which is really ironic, considering." He flicked a glance towards Elsa and not even Anna could pretend it was a friendly look.

Elsa turned away and pretended to be deeply engrossed in the rusty pile of broken tools in the corner.

"I just need a bucketful. Even shavings would help. Our daughter has been feverish for days now. My wife says ice will help," Felix pleaded.

"Try the butcher shops. They're the first places we filled up. Ask at Ulf's place. They're friendlier," Kristoff said with a shrug.

Anna was staring at Elsa, willing her to figure it out before she had to say something.

Elsa pulled off a glove. Her fingertips barely brushed the lip of Felix's bucket and he staggered at the sudden weight. He gasped in shock at the bucket, mounded high with a block of ice, then searched the shed. Felix dropped to his knee. "Your Majesty."

"No need for that," Elsa murmured, replacing her glove. "Take it home quickly. Take care of your daughter."

"Yes, your Majesty. Thank you, your Majesty. Thank you." Repeating his thanks again and again, Felix backed away, bowing, lugging the heavy bucket with both hands.

Anna was ecstatic. That couldn't possibly have gone any better! Now Elsa would see that her powers were actually a good thing, and Kristoff would see that Elsa had everything under control and he didn't need to be surly anymore, and everything would be perfect.

"You could put me out of business so fast," Kristoff said flatly, staring at Elsa.

"I wouldn't," she whispered, shrinking away from him.

"She's your best customer, Kristoff, back it up a bit," Anna flared.

"I don't need to be patronized," Kristoff snapped back.

"Are we going yet?" Olaf interrupted, running in.

"Yes, we're going right now, right this second," Anna said. She spun and left the shed, skirts twirling. Blinking hard against the tears, she clutched her picnic basket. It would get better at the meadow. It could still be a perfect day. It just had to be.

* * *

_Author's Note: This story is part of a series. You can follow the plot without having read anything else, but there are a couple mentions of details from other stories. In "Olaf's Marketplace Adventure," I wrote that when Elsa thawed Arendelle, she thawed everything in Arendelle, including all the ice blocks the ice harvesters had stored in the village. That's where Kristoff's comment about the ice shortage comes from._

_Also, you remember that part in the movie where Anna hits Kristoff in the face with a bag of carrots? I thought he totally deserved that. He hasn't picked up any social skills since then. Shall we see if he ever does?_

_As always, reviews and comments are welcome._


	5. Chapter 5 - Picnic in the Meadow

**Chapter 5 – Picnic in the Meadow**

A twenty-minute walk brought Anna, Kristoff, Elsa, Olaf and Sven to a meadow near a brook. The quaking aspens shivered in the light breeze and every so often a bird sang out. Anna spread out the picnic blanket near the tree where Kristoff had plopped down and put his hat over his face to resume his nap. Elsa and Olaf were wandering through the wildflowers that had sprung back up since the thaw. Sven was following them, eating an occasional flower. He brought one back and dropped it next to Anna.

"Thank you, Sven. At least one of you is happy to be here," she said pointedly. Kristoff didn't even grunt.

Anna left him to join Elsa and Olaf. Sven pranced after her. The long meadow grasses tickled her legs above her summer sandals. The smell of dirt and grass was thick in the hot, lazy air.

"Look, Anna! Just like I always wanted! Buzzing bees and dandelion fuzz! Here, do you want to blow this one?" Olaf said.

Anna took the dandelion fuzz ball from Olaf and blew the seeds away.

Olaf danced with excitement. "Isn't that so fun? Let's do it again!" He found her another dandelion fuzz ball.

Anna's spirits recovered as she blew dandelion fuzz with Olaf. Elsa was blowing dandelion fuzz too, at Olaf's insistence. She was smiling.

Elsa caught Anna's eye. "This is beautiful here, Anna. Thanks for planning it."

"You're welcome," Anna said. "Is this your first picnic ever?"

"Yes, I suppose," Elsa said, the smile falling off her face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up, I just, well, nothing, I guess," Anna said.

Elsa handed her a dandelion fuzz ball. "Here. Smile again, all right?"

Mainly because of Olaf's enthusiastic insistence that they have as much fun as he was having, they had a good time. Olaf even went and dragged Kristoff out to blow dandelion fuzz. He cooperated, and eventually discovered that you couldn't sulk and play in the meadow with Olaf at the same time. Anna was soaring again.

"Hey, what's in that picnic basket? I'm starving," Kristoff said at last.

"Gerda packed it, so I have no idea what's in there, but I bet it's delicious. Want to help me set it out?" Anna said, forgiving him for his earlier churlishness.

"Sure! Do you think there's bread in there?"

Kristoff and Anna unpacked the picnic basket. Baked spiced pork, crisp bread and sourdough bread, sausages, dumplings, pastries, apples, carrots, a jar of apple juice, popovers, two kinds of cheese, and the food just kept coming.

"Oh my! Do you think we can eat all of that?" Elsa asked, coming over with Olaf and Sven bouncing along behind her.

"I can save you a few bites, yes," Kristoff said.

After a startled look, Elsa realized he was teasing her and she laughed about it.

Anna laughed a lot more loudly than the comment warranted. They were going to be friends after all! It was a perfect day.

It turned out Kristoff wasn't really teasing. No one else got any bread or pastries at all, and by the time Anna finished her cheese, the popovers were gone too. She bit into an apple instead. Elsa was daintily cleaning off her bare fingers with a napkin.

"Elsa! Look at this one! Look what I found!" Olaf came running back to the picnic blanket with a small sunflower, no bigger than the palm of Elsa's hand.

Elsa actually put her hands to her face in delight before taking the flower from Olaf. "It's beautiful! I've never seen a flower like that! Where did you find it?"

"Over there," Olaf pointed. "There's a whole patch of them."

Kristoff snorted. "It's a weed. They grow in the garbage."

Elsa dropped the flower. It was white with frost. "Why don't you show me," she said, slipping her gloves back on and taking Olaf's hand. He tugged her away.

"What is wrong with you?" Anna hissed at Kristoff.

"What's wrong with me? I should be halfway to Swayback Ridge by now, and instead I'm blowing dandelion fluff with a snowman who likes weeds," Kristoff shot back.

She threw a napkin at him and stomped away.

"All right, I'm sorry!" Kristoff said, coming after her.

"You tell her you're sorry," Anna said, pointing at Elsa.

He looked uncertain. "Come with me?"

"Fine." Anna marched him over through the tall meadow grasses.

"Um," said Kristoff.

Elsa wouldn't look at him. Anna hoped that Kristoff would realize it was because she was afraid, not because she was angry.

"There's a girl that sells flowers in the marketplace named Tyra. She has these really big flowers sometimes, like those, only bigger than your head. They were real sunflowers. She's the one that told me those small ones are weeds. I'm sorry. They're still pretty and all that. They look just like the big ones. I'm sorry," Kristoff finished.

"It's nothing. I'm sure you're right. I don't know much about flowers," Elsa replied, twisting a flower stem in her gloved fingers.

"I could ask her where she got them, or maybe get some seeds from her. I bet you've got a royal gardener or somebody who could grow a whole patch of them for you," Kristoff went on.

"That would be nice," Elsa admitted. She still wouldn't look at him.

This was excruciating. Anna wanted to get out of here. "Do you think we could go to Felix's place and check on his daughter before we go home? Do you know where he lives, Kristoff?"

"Yeah, I know where he lives. Are you sure? It might not be such a great idea."

"We'll only stay a minute," Anna assured him. They just needed to be there long enough to remind Elsa that she'd done something really wonderful when she'd made Felix a bucket of ice. They had to end on a good note.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Apple Orchard

**Chapter 6 – The Apple Orchard**

Elsa followed Anna and Kristoff up the dusty lane to Felix's house. Today had overwhelmed her. She was used to the castle, with its quiet corridors and stately rooms. In her memory, she had never spent this much time outdoors. She wasn't hot; heat didn't affect her any more than cold did. But all the brightness, wind, and newness had sapped her reserves of composure. Composure meant control. Kristoff's barely concealed anger had her off-balance too. His disdain in the meadow had set off a bit of frost, and she was afraid more was lurking, just waiting to break through at the next thing that startled her. She wished Anna would take them all home.

Children were playing in the hardpacked dirt around the house. When they saw the group coming, they ran in the house and returned with the adults.

"Felix!" Kristoff called out with a wave.

"Kristoff!" Felix replied, coming to meet them. He bowed at Elsa. "May I introduce my wife, Lena. These are our other children," he said, waving at the pack of little ones who were staring at the unfamiliar adults.

"Your Majesty," Lena said, with an attempt at a curtsy, but no smile. Her eyes were tired and lines of concern surrounded her mouth. Her apron was streaked with grime and a few stray hairs escaped from the kerchief she wore. "And your Highness."

"Oh, don't bother with any of that," Anna said, waving her off. "We aren't doing anything formal. We came to check on your daughter. How is she doing?"

"Better, your Highness. The ice helped. Thank you, your Majesty. She's resting more comfortably now," Lena replied.

Elsa nodded and offered a tiny smile. "You're welcome." She hoped Anna wouldn't invite them into the house. Lena was obviously startled at their visit. With a sick daughter to care for, Elsa didn't want her to go to any trouble. Besides, she needed to get home quickly. She had her fists clenched, trying to keep her emotions just as tightly clenched.

"That was really kind of you, Elsa," Anna agreed.

Elsa knew she should reply.

"This is such a nice place you have," Anna threw into the pause. "What do you grow?"

"It's an apple orchard," Felix said, "it's been in the family for generations."

"I'd love to see it!" Anna gushed.

Felix and Lena exchanged uncertain looks even as one of their children tugged Anna off. "This way."

Elsa followed because she didn't want to stay and try to talk to people she didn't know. The apple orchard was around back. She took it in silently; there was nothing to say. The trees had put out a few new green leaves, but were mostly bare. Here and there a dead apple clung to a high branch, withered. Dead, unripe apples rotted in great piles. The air was full of the smell, like spoiled cider.

Lena stepped up next to her.

"I'm so sorry," Elsa said.

"The trees aren't dead. We lost the crop, but it will bloom out again next spring," Lena said.

Elsa started to leak tears. "I'm so sorry," she repeated, and turned to go.

"Elsa!" Anna called out. "You know she didn't mean to do it," Anna told Lena. "Really, she didn't mean it."

"We'll manage," was all Lena said to her.

Anna took off. "Elsa! Wait!"

Elsa didn't stop. Anna couldn't tell her this was fine and she shouldn't feel bad. She'd destroyed their entire crop, and they had all those children to feed. A bucket of ice wasn't going to make up for that.

~###~

Kristoff watched the sisters go. Anna had the most terrible ideas. This was as bad as trying to talk her sister into thawing Arendelle.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked Felix.

"The queen's councilors have assured us they'll help this winter," Felix said.

Kristoff looked down. A trail of frosty footprints led out of the yard. Felix put out a foot and scraped at one that was already melting.

"I'd better go," Kristoff said, watching Anna pursue Elsa. "I hope your daughter feels better soon. Come on, Olaf!"

Olaf left the game of tag he was playing with Felix's children and followed Kristoff. Sven ambled along behind. Kristoff quickened his pace to catch up after they'd turned a bend and were out of sight from Felix. The frosty footprints were now growing spikes of ice from the edges, and hoarfrost was filling in the gaps and turning it into a trail of cold. The occasional phrase drifted back to him.

"I froze their whole crop, Anna. I killed everything."

"You can't feel bad, though! You didn't mean it. They're not mad at you."

Kristoff could see Anna trying to comfort Elsa, and Elsa kept pulling away. Elsa would try to walk away from her. Anna would follow and tug her arm. Elsa would yank away, the ice pooling around her feet. They were escalating, not calming down, and Kristoff knew how it would end.

He butted in. "Leave it alone, Anna, before you get hurt again."

"I'm trying to help," Anna insisted.

"She doesn't want your help." That came out more sharply than he'd intended.

"It's none of your business," Anna snapped.

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Yes it is. When she blasts you again, I'm the one who has to rescue you. Remember that part? That makes it my business."

Elsa stammered and Kristoff rounded on her. "You've blasted her head and her heart. What are you going to do to her this time? Back off!"

Icicles grew on a nearby tree and the ground around Elsa's feet froze more thickly as she stepped back as if she'd been struck. Elsa pulled off her gloves. Kristoff yanked Anna behind him.

Elsa aimed a stream of power at the ground. A ribbon of ice unfolded at her feet. With a gust of cold wind, she launched herself down the ice ribbon and skied away, disappearing out of sight in only a few seconds. If Kristoff hadn't been so angry, he would have admitted that was the coolest thing ever and he wanted to try it.

Anna hit him hard.

"Hey!" he protested. When she raised her fist again, he grabbed her wrists. She kicked him instead. This was a bit different from the last time someone tried to beat him up. Anna got in some sharp kicks while he decided what to do.

With a few careful maneuvers, he ended up sitting on a fallen log with Anna on his lap, arms and legs pinned, stifling her storm. When she realized she couldn't move, she burst into tears. He felt like scum. When he let go, she burrowed into his chest, crying hard.

"I was just trying to protect you from her," he ventured cautiously.

"I don't need to be protected from her! She's my sister!"

That was such a ridiculous statement that he snorted in disbelief.

"She's my sister! She can't help the things she does sometimes!"

"You know, my sister is a rock, but she manages not to cave in my skull when she disagrees with me," Kristoff pointed out.

Anna shoved herself off his lap and stalked away.

Kristoff leaped up and grabbed her arm. "Wait! Don't go!"

Anna tried to shake him off. "Let go of me!"

"Don't just run off."

"So if Elsa wants to run off, I have to let her, but you can make me stay?" Anna demanded.

"I'm not going to hurt you like Elsa will," Kristoff argued, still holding onto her arm.

"You think you didn't hurt me? Did you see her face, Kristoff? You can't hurt Elsa without hurting me. There's more than one way to freeze someone's heart, you know."

This time he let go when she jerked away from him. She walked quickly down the hill, shoulders shaking as she cried. He didn't dare follow her.

Something poked his hand. He looked down. Olaf was trying to hold his hand. He hadn't seen that look on Olaf's face since Anna froze on the fjord. "How come we don't like each other anymore? Are we still a family?" Olaf asked.

Kristoff had craved a human family his whole life, ever since his own family died. He finally found a couple of sisters, and it turned out he had no idea how to be part of a family. "I don't know Olaf. I don't know if people like us have what it takes to be a family."

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_As always, reviews and comments are appreciated!_


	7. Chapter 7 - Thinking of the Horse

**Chapter 7 – Thinking of the Horse**

Elsa skidded to a stop at the castle and looked behind her. The ice ribbon was still narrow, and was melting in the heat. At least she wasn't going to freeze all Arendelle again.

She'd been listening to her Councilors report about the storm damage for a couple of months now, but none of those dry summaries had prepared her for the reality of what she'd done. The shock of all those dead apples had crushed the day's small cheer right out of her. Her fear that she was a bad person was back in full force. A good person didn't ruin the livelihood of an orchard farmer who had never done anything to harm her.

Then Kristoff had piled on. She really had wanted him for a friend and brother. Other than Anna, there was no one in the world who thought of her only as Elsa, instead of as Her Royal Majesty. When Anna suggested they draw a brother into their family, she'd wanted it badly, even as she'd been sure he would never like her, or see past her ice and her rank. She didn't know how to handle it when he'd been so cross with her.

Her breath was coming in gasps and her feet were leaving frozen footprints on the stairs as she rushed to her room, trying to get away from everyone before the ice exploded. She made it, and locked the door behind her. A blizzard of snowflakes fell from nowhere. Icicles grew down from the ceiling and frost began to creep over the window and mirror. She ran past her witting room and threw herself onto the bed, which instantly froze. She hugged the ice to her, clinging to its familiarity and its reassurance that she was bad. The ice was proof that she was a cold and wicked person; good people couldn't make ice. Anna could make her crazy with her insistence that she was a good person; the ice knew the truth. In a strange way, it comforted her to have something agree with her.

How had Kristoff known about what she'd done to Anna? Everyone in Arendelle knew she'd frozen her sister's heart. But the time she'd thrown her magic at Anna's head as a child was a secret to everyone except her, now that her parents were dead. No one knew that, and yet he'd thrown it at her like a dagger. It cut her to her heart and she cried and cried. Of course he hated her. She hated herself. She deserved to be hated.

Oddly, admitting that he had good cause to hate her caused a lull in the snowstorm that was burying her room. Kristoff was never going to tell her she was a good person and insist she shouldn't be afraid of her powers the way Anna always did. She wouldn't have to fight and argue with him the way she did with Anna for permission to be horrified about what she could do. They agreed with each other about how terrible she was.

Thinking of Kristoff started to crack open the fear that was freezing her room. She remembered how the freeze had ended this morning in the corral, and she deliberately widened the crack. "Think of the horse," she murmured to herself. It wasn't Gypsy that she was talking about; it was Kristoff. She set herself to see him as a separate person, hoping to draw herself out of her own fear. There was no falling sensation this time, just a memory. She saw the anger in his look, the quick gesture with which he'd pulled Anna behind him when she'd pulled off her gloves. He was trying to protect Anna. With that realization, her fear of him disappeared, and with it her defensiveness. He was trying to do exactly what Elsa wanted to do – protect Anna from her own refusal to see how dangerous Elsa could be. Anna blithely insisted that Elsa could easily control her powers, but Elsa knew she didn't have as much control as Anna assumed she had.

Her room was still two feet deep in snow, but the hysteria was gone. The snow had stopped falling. She tried to open a window to get a warm breeze into the room, but the casing was frozen to the sill.

She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to ask him how he'd known what she'd done to Anna, and enlist his help in protecting Anna in the future. For Anna's sake, they had to work something out. Not only did they need to protect Anna, but the two people Anna loved best in the world couldn't maintain a feud without hurting Anna. If he wasn't willing to talk to her for her own sake, maybe he would do it for Anna.

"Think of the horse," she whispered with a smile, looking around her room. The snow was wisping away with the icicles. She pulled on the window again and it opened easily this time. A warm breeze poured in. "Thank you, Anna, for insisting I think of the horse."


	8. Chapter 8 - A Long Talk

_Author Note: I would never pair up Elsa and Kristoff. However, they do need to find a way to be friends, and that's what happens in this chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 8 – A Long Talk**

"Your Highness?" Chief Steward Kai tapped on the door to Anna's sitting room the next morning. "Master Kristoff wonders if you would see him?"

"Where is he?" Anna demanded. She'd been up half the night thinking of a few more things she wanted to say to him.

"At the kitchen entrance, ma'am. He wouldn't come up."

Anna swung down the hall and ran down the stairs, anger building. He was waiting for her in the kitchen courtyard, holding a vase of those weedy sunflowers he'd disdained so much yesterday.

"If you think a bunch of flowers is going to make anything better," she started.

He cut her off. "They're not for you, they're for Elsa. I want to tell her I'm sorry but I didn't know if she even wanted to see me."

Instantly, all Anna's anger evaporated and she nearly knocked him over with a hug. "You brought her favorite flowers? They're so beautiful! Where did you get all that?"

"Uh, I got the vase from the glassblower, and then after I picked the flowers, Tyra helped make it look nice," Kristoff explained. "I told her how much Elsa likes sunflowers."

"That's a gorgeous bouquet. I have to meet Tyra someday," Anna said. "Come up. You can give them to Elsa yourself."

Kristoff didn't move. "Look, I know she's your sister, but haven't you figured out that you can't force her to talk? Please give her the flowers from me and tell her I'm sorry. I'll be in the marketplace if she wants to talk, but I'm not going to barge in and insist she feel better."

"That's what I do!"

"How's that work for you?" Kristoff replied.

"Oh, you!" Anna snapped, snatching the vase away from him. "Get out of here!"

~###~

Elsa slipped into the ice shed in the marketplace. Kristoff was sitting on a hay bale fingering his lute. After a moment, he got up to get something and saw her. He noticeably jumped.

Elsa apologized for startling him.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I said yesterday," he said glumly. "I ruined the picnic. I knew I wasn't doing good enough to be around people yesterday; I should have told Anna 'no.'" He sat back down, dropped his head into his hands and said to the floor, "I can't tell Anna 'no.'"

"Thank you for the flowers," Elsa said, not knowing what else to say. She wished she had Anna's gift of chatter.

The silence stretched out. Finally, Kristoff gestured towards a hay bale. "Do you want to sit down?"

Elsa perched on the edge of the hay bale. Sven leaned in to snuffle at her and Kristoff shoved him back. Elsa gathered her resolve and asked, "How did you know about the first time I hurt Anna? No one knows about that."

Kristoff went back to plucking at his lute. "When I was a little kid, this horse went galloping past, leaving an ice trail behind it. I like ice, so I followed the trail to a grotto full of rocks. There were a couple of little girls with their parents. Then all those rocks unrolled into trolls and I watched Grand Pabbie helping them. The one daughter had been struck through the head with magic. I saw bits and pieces is all. I don't remember much once Bulda said she was keeping us. Anyway, after I took Anna to Grand Pabbie after, you know, what happened at your palace, I figured out that it was the two of you that first time too. It was your hair color that gave it away. I'd never seen anyone blonder than I was."

Elsa nodded. "I didn't know any other people knew about the trolls." Anna hadn't mentioned she'd gone to the trolls. They hadn't talked much about the terrible things they'd been through. They were just trying to lay down a sisterly relationship that would cover up the things they didn't want to think about, like frosting a cake without acknowledging it was made of mud and hoping the sugar could disguise the taste of the dirt.

He slapped his lute strings quiet. "What do you mean no one knows about that? Anna was there; she knows. How come you didn't figure she'd told me?"

"Anna doesn't know about that first time," Elsa said quietly. Elsa started at the beginning, with Anna's plea to play in the snow that morning so long ago and how it ended. Pabbie had said even memories of magic might hurt Anna, and so they'd all protected Anna from knowing anything. She described everything Pabbie had told her about control and fear, and her own misgivings that she would ever be able to control it. She'd meant to stop there, but Kristoff was listening so intently that it simply pulled the rest of the story out of her. For the first time in her life, she talked out what those years in her room had done to her. After a long time, she fell silent.

The look he was giving her was inscrutable. "So you made a mistake and hurt Anna. They shut you in your room for thirteen years and you only came out two months ago."

"When I immediately made another mistake and hurt not only Anna but all of Arendelle," Elsa said. She was mildly surprised that there wasn't any snow when she said that. She didn't even have her fists clenched.

When Kristoff finally replied, it didn't have anything to do with what she'd just said, and yet as she listened, she realized he was offering his story in exchange for hers. "I was just a little kid when my family died," Kristoff said. "My uncle said he'd take me in. He tried, but he was married and they already had about ten kids. My aunt wasn't happy to have another one. She took to locking me out of the house at mealtimes. She didn't care if I slept there, but since they didn't even have enough food for their own kids . . ." He trailed off and shrugged.

"I was actually dumb enough to tap on the window. I thought maybe they just didn't know I couldn't get in." Sadness drew his mouth down in memory of a hungry little boy who couldn't figure out why the door was locked, then it disappeared.

"After a while, I stopped going back there even to sleep. The ice harvesters were letting me tag along by then. Then Sven was born. Reindeer don't have twins very often, and when it happens, the mother can't take care of both of them. He got pushed out. The shepherd said if I could keep him alive, I could have him. So I kept him alive. That was the same year we followed you to the rock trolls. The trolls took us in. They were good company, but rocks don't eat like people do; they never really understood why I wanted to eat so often. They fed me mushrooms sometimes, but after one about poisoned me, I quit eating with the trolls. In summer, I could find berries and roots in the woods, or catch a rabbit. I got by.

"I boarded Sven with a shepherd over the winter. He could earn his keep. I was still too small to be useful, but I'd crawl into the reindeer shed at night to sleep where it was warm on the days where I couldn't get all the way back to the trolls before night fell. I taught Sven to share food with me. He'd save me carrots, stuff like that. Sven ate a lot better than I did for a lot of years. As I got bigger, I learned enough to fix up a secondhand sled. One of the ice harvesters gave me some old equipment and I started hauling ice. It was a real luxury to be able to eat regularly." He gave her half a smile, then went back to picking at his lute strings.

"Then I met your sister. Within a couple of hours, I lost everything I owned over a cliff. She told you about that?" Kristoff asked.

"She told me a bit when she explained why she owed you a sled," Elsa said.

"She bought me some really nice equipment," Kristoff said. He hesitated.

"What didn't she replace?" Elsa asked.

"My food stash. Jerky and dried fruit and hardtack. Things like that. Just what I use to get by until I can trap a rabbit or catch a fish. But my belt knife is gone too, and I can't even remember when I lost it. I can't hunt or fish without a knife. On the trail this last time up the mountain, I had to ask the other ice harvesters if I could borrow a knife, and that's like asking to wear someone else's socks."

Elsa had that falling sensation again, just for a second because Kristoff was so closed off. It was enough for her to sense how the isolation of his early years had grown into fierce independence and pride, and how badly it rattled him when Anna threatened that independence. Or was it still isolation? The line between the two was blurred.

Kristoff went on. "I mean, no one likes to be hungry, right? But it makes me crazy too. When I'm hungry, it's like I'm that thrown away kid again, and I'm mad at the whole world."

The last bit of nervousness ebbed out of Elsa as she understood that his anger yesterday wasn't entirely because of what she'd done to Anna. He'd been struggling with his own private storm. She'd merely been his target, not the real cause, in the same way Anna wasn't the real cause of her storms either, though she became the target. The real causes lay buried in those childhood stories.

She wondered how long he'd gone without eating before that picnic yesterday. With that independence she'd sensed, she knew he'd never ask anyone for food. She considered how to help him and still leave his pride intact.

"Where does one buy a belt knife?" she asked. "Let me get that last item that Anna forgot."

"The blacksmith's," he answered. "I'll have enough to buy one after selling another couple loads of ice."

"Would you walk me there? I don't know the way," Elsa said, rising to her feet and brushing bits of hay off her skirt.

"Uh," he said, getting up.

Elsa placed a gloved hand on his arm, as if he were a gentleman escort. "Would you do the talking when we get there? I don't do well talking to people I don't know."

Kristoff rose to the occasion. He straightened his broad shoulders and escorted her to the blacksmith. Along the way, he pointed out shops and sights, nodding a greeting at people who stopped to stare at him, as if it was totally normal for him to be escorting Arendelle's reclusive queen through the village.

At the blacksmith shop, Elsa listened to him explain why he was choosing one particular knife over all the other ones. In about ten minutes with Kristoff, she learned more facts about knives than she'd ever suspected existed. Elsa signed the writ of payment and told them to send it to the castle.

As they left the blacksmith shop, Kristoff insisted she admire the knife. "Here, put your hand right here. Feel the balance? See how the hilt is shaped?" He was so excited he reminded her of Olaf with the dandelion fuzz yesterday.

He finally sheathed the knife. "Hey, look. Yesterday I could tell it set you off when Anna tried to help you. I was thinking. If Anna ever tried to help me with my food stash, and tell me what I did and didn't need, I might get pretty mad at her too. Some things you just can't let people help you with, you know?"

"Exactly," Elsa said. She was touched at the gift of understanding he'd just given her, uncontaminated by either judgment or pity. She was about to ask him how they could protect Anna from her magic when he went on.

"So it sets you off when you make a mistake with ice that hurts someone. And it sets me off when I get hungry. What makes Anna crazy like that?" he asked.

Elsa had never thought of it in those terms before, but as soon as he asked the question, she knew the answer. "A closed door. And keeping a secret for her own protection."

All those times she'd only seen how Anna was frustrating her when she refused to leave her alone. Now she saw how badly she'd frustrated Anna, and how conspiring with Kristoff to protect Anna was the worst possible thing she could do.

"So what are you going to do?" Kristoff asked.

Clearly, he didn't have any ideas. She realized she shouldn't expect him to solve her problem. Like he'd said, there were some things that you couldn't let anyone else help you with. But as soon as he asked the question, she knew what the answer had to be.

"I'm going to try something I've never tried before with Anna. Total honesty."


	9. Chapter 9 - The Truth

**Chapter 9 – The Truth**

Back at the castle, Elsa went first to the kitchens, where she left discreet instructions with Gerda that Kristoff was to be given as much as he could eat every time he came, whether or not he asked for anything. Then she went looking for Anna.

Anna was at the castle stable feeding apples to her horse.

"What's the name of your horse? I didn't even think to ask," Elsa said.

"I named him Thunder, because he's colored like a storm cloud," Anna said. "You were gone forever. What happened?"

Elsa found Gypsy's stall and patted her nose. "We talked. We decided not to hate each other anymore."

Anna waited nearly a few seconds before she burst out, "that's it? Would you please tell me more than that?"

Elsa realized that she'd done it again. She knew what set Anna off, and she'd done it again just now by not volunteering the information she knew Anna wanted to know. "I'm sorry, you're right. There's a lot more than that to tell you. I'll tell you what I told Kristoff, all right?"

Anna leaned back against Thunder. "Go ahead."

"Did you ever wonder where you got that blonde lock in your hair?"

"I was born with it," Anna answered. "Mother said so."

"Mother lied," Elsa quietly answered. She told Anna the truth about the last day of their childhood – the fun they had together in the ballroom before things went so terribly wrong. "You wanted to go sledding, and then you wanted to fly. You skidded down and landed in snow piles that I conjured out of nowhere. But you got going so fast. I wanted you to slow down, but you insisted I could keep up with you." Elsa gave Anna a lopsided smile. "You always had more confidence in me than I had."

"I don't remember any of this," Anna interrupted.

"There's a reason you don't remember. I'm getting there," Elsa said. "You flew. You must have been fifteen feet above the ice on the ballroom floor. I slipped and fell just as I was trying to create a snow pile for you to land in. The cold went right into your head and you didn't wake up. I watched that lock of hair turn pale blonde like mine. I was afraid you'd be like me. And then I was afraid I'd killed you."

"Oh, Elsa," Anna whispered.

"I screamed for mother and father. Father knew to take us to the rock trolls. Grand Pabbie said the only way to heal you was to remove all magic, even memories of magic. I watched him pull memories out of your head, erase the magic, and then put them back. By the time he was done, you had no idea what I could do and who I really was. It didn't change your hair, but I heard your breathing change," Elsa said.

"But then everything was all right," Anna suggested.

"Pabbie said you couldn't be around magic anymore. Father was afraid if you found out about my magic, the injury itself would come back. They kept us apart for your protection," Elsa admitted. "I was so afraid that I'd hurt you again. Since I couldn't control the ice and snow, the only way to keep you safe was to stay away. That's why I never talked to you. I wanted a sister so badly, but I was so afraid that loving me would cost you your life."

Anna threw herself into Elsa's arms, crying up a storm. "Pabbie was wrong! I know all about your magic now and it doesn't hurt me. All those years it was the lie that hurt us both."

Elsa began to cry too. "But do you see that I did hurt you again? I froze your heart. I know it all turned out well in the end, but I never want to hurt you like that again. Please, Anna, when I tell you that you can't help me or that I need to be alone, you have to listen. You have to take 'no' for an answer from me."

"You only ever tell me no," Anna protested.

"And you never accept it," Elsa insisted. "The frustration causes me to lose control and I do the very thing I'm afraid of doing. I was glad when Kristoff got between us yesterday. I was so close to losing control again."

"But you felt bad. I didn't want you to feel bad," Anna kept arguing.

"There are some things you just can't help me with, Anna," Elsa said, repeating Kristoff's insight to her. "I'm going to feel bad sometimes, and you have to let me. I'll feel twice as bad if I ever strike you with my powers again. Can you at least help me avoid that second reason for feeling bad?"

"Oh," said Anna, small and sad. "You don't want me to help you?"

"I want your help to learn how to ride a horse, how to talk to people, where to go on a picnic, things like that. But no, I don't want your help with my magic and how to control it or feel about it," Elsa said as gently as she could.

When Anna didn't answer, Elsa asked, "Could I get another riding lesson?"

"Sure," Anna said bitterly. "I can ride horses. I can't do anything important or smart like you can, but I guess if picnics and horses are all I'm good for, that's what I'll do."

Elsa drew back from the anger in Anna's voice.

"Do you know what those childhood years were like for me, Elsa? Everyone thinks I'm too stupid to know anything; too foolish to make a decision; so fragile I have to be protected from my own sister! Why can't I be smart too? Sometimes I get tired of being silly and happy all the time. Why doesn't anyone need me? I need people and no one needs me back!" Anna pounded her fists against Thunder's flank.

Think of the horse, Elsa reminded herself before her ice could freeze the floor. Anna has a reason she's angry. What is it? She didn't even have that falling sensation this time, she just knew. Anna felt rejected and patronized, and with good reason. Elsa had just rejected and patronized her. That part made sense, but what caught her off guard was Anna's anger. She was always so happy. Then the falling sensation caught up with her as she fell deeper into Anna's heart, and she saw how much alike they were. For years, Elsa had let people think she was an invalid and withdrawn because she didn't trust them to know she was magical and afraid. Anna let people think she was happy and carefree because she didn't trust them to know she was lonely and hurt by the years of silence. Anna had been putting on a show all those years too. Elsa's façade had been ripped away; Anna was still trapped in hers.

This time it was Elsa who cried first. "Anna! Forgive me. I didn't see you at all. I hurt you so badly, and I was too blind to see it."

Anna wiped away tears with the heel of her hand. "I didn't let you see. You didn't let anyone see what you were dealing with and neither did I."

"Did anyone ever see how much you really hurt?" Elsa asked. She thought perhaps mother or father had seen the real Anna behind the mask.

Anna nodded. From behind her sobs she choked out, "Prince Hans did." In broken sentences and with many pauses for more tears, Anna told Elsa what Hans had said to her when she was freezing to death in the north parlor: "You were so desperate for love that you were willing to marry me just like that."

Elsa shuddered. Her connection to Anna's heart was still open and she sensed Anna's determination to never need love like that again, which was the real reason Kristoff would never be more to her than a brother.

"He was right about me," Anna said.

Elsa tried to hug her. It broke her heart that the only person who had seen how much Anna needed to be loved had betrayed her so viciously.

"And it had a lot to do with you," Anna went on.

Elsa went very still. But she'd just put Anna through a very difficult conversation. She couldn't draw back when Anna was willing to talk. There was no ice or snow anywhere, and she took that as a good sign. "Tell me," she said.

Anna told her what those few sentences of sister talk during the coronation ball had meant to her, and the devastation when Elsa pulled away again immediately. "I thought that since you didn't love me, he may as well," Anna said. "I threw myself at Hans. He hardly had to do a thing but catch me."

"Oh, Anna," Elsa cried. "You've forgiven me for so much already. Please forgive me for this too and I swear I'll never shut you out again."

Anna nodded against her sister's shoulder, accepting her promise and forgiving her again.

Elsa hung on tight. She had no idea how she was going to get Anna completely involved, but she knew she had to find a way. After everything Anna had done for her, Elsa owed her.

Elsa repeated her new mantra. Think of the horse. I can find a way to need Anna as much as she wants to be needed. Just keep thinking of the horse.

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_Reviews and comments are appreciated!_


	10. Chapter 10 - A Change in Policy

**Chapter 10 – A Change in Policy**

The next morning, Elsa went looking for Anna. No sooner had someone told her that Anna had gone to the marketplace to see Kristoff than she saw Anna making her way back over the causeway. She looked angry. Elsa met her in the castle courtyard.

"Good morning?" Elsa said tentatively, trying to gauge Anna's mood.

"He left already. He left last night to try and catch up with the other ice harvesters," Anna said. "He didn't even say good-bye or leave me a message or anything. He's just gone."

"I'm sorry, I really am," Elsa said.

Anna huffed and folded her arms, blinking fast. Elsa could see she was deeply hurt, and was covering it up by being upset.

"Could I ask you something else? I've been thinking about what you said yesterday. There have been some things I've noticed about you these last two months that I haven't told you," said Elsa.

"Like what?" Anna relaxed a bit and quit looking like she needed to cry.

"Like you're good with people. You can talk to anyone, and they talk back. If someone comes to the castle upset with the damage from my storm, after twenty minutes with you they're smiling and giving me another chance. You can handle an entire day of those meetings and go at it again the next morning. Then when I ask you how things are going, you can pick up all the threads of all those separate meetings and tie them together and give me a report that lets me know the big picture. I've worked with people who can't see patterns the way you can."

"Oh," said Anna. "I like talking to people."

"I have a suggestion. It's one to think about for a while," Elsa said.

"Go ahead."

"I like governing Arendelle; I'd rather not deal with the rest of the world. Councilor Gustav gets very frustrated with me sometimes, though he tries to hide it. He's running our foreign relations on his own right now. And what with the national embarrassment of freezing in dignitaries from every neighboring country, he's at the end of his rope. I'm thinking about handing you over to Councilor Gustav for a few years of education and training, and then putting you in charge of Arendelle's foreign relations," Elsa said.

Elsa enjoyed the spectacle of Anna being stunned speechless.

"The full Council is meeting after lunch today," Elsa went on. "I've made arrangements for you to sit at my right hand. Don't feel like you need to participate until you feel comfortable, but I think you should start attending. I won't say anything formal to Gustav until you say so. I will tell you that Gustav has also noted your ability to pick up on patterns and sift through the information people give you to pick out what's important. He's the one that told me that was a valuable skill for any foreign diplomat to have."

Anna's hands fluttered and she inhaled hugely. "Today? Oh! I need to go to the library and look at a map! Or read a book! Oh my goodness! Me? At a Council meeting?" Anna dashed for the castle. Then she stopped and turned. "Elsa! What should I wear?"

Elsa began to laugh. Council meetings were going to be so much livelier from now on.

THE END

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**Author Note:**

**Thanks for reading! And a big thanks to those of you that left reviews! I'll start posting the next story in this series in a couple of weeks. It will be the sequel to "Queen Elsa's Councilor." You can read that if you haven't read it already, to meet the original characters who are coming back for the sequel, and see what's already happened. Kristoff really gets a chance to redeem himself in this next story. Here's the teaser:**

**The Unlikely Heroes of Arendelle: When a former member of Queen Elsa's Royal Council turns against her and hires an army of mercenaries to seize the throne of Arendelle, Elsa finds herself fighting a battle she isn't sure she should win. Kristoff resorts to desperate measures to protect Anna, while Anna steps into government to help Elsa. With a castle full of war refugees, and a mountain full of enemy soldiers, Arendelle must find hope in its most unlikely heroes.**

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